Saturday, December 12, 2015

Review: " The Haunted Season" by G.M. Malliet (Reviewed by Jeanne of the Bookblog of the Bristol Public Library)

If
you read this blog on a regular basis you know that I frequently link to
reviews at the Bookblog of the Bristol Public Library. Jeanne, on staff there, responded
to my recent call on the DorothyL list regarding guest posts. The review below
is her first contribution here. Hopefully, the first of many more.

The Haunted Season
by G.M. Malliet

This is the fifth book in the series about Father
Maxen Tudor, former MI5 agent turned Anglican priest, and his parish of Nether
Monkslip.It should be a peaceful place,
given that it’s a small English village, but the murder rate seems to rival
that of Cabot Cove—at least since Max took over as vicar, an observation that
is causing him a degree of worry.Is it
possible that he is attracting violence?

This time around, Max is still basking in the
afterglow of being both a new husband and a new father while around the village
excitement is building about the return of some of the local landed
gentry.Lord Baaden-Boomthistle and his
second wife have returned to Totleigh Hall and hopes are high that they will
condescend to take part in some village events.Those hopes are quickly dashed when a vicious murder takes place, and
Father Max is called in to help the police sort things out. Suspects abound,
especially in the immediate family and household help. There is not, however, a
butler.

I’ve read and enjoyed the four previous entries in
this series.Malliet uses a good bit of
humor in her work, though she has a tendency to name drop a lot--the names of
the current Royal Family pop up a lot, in fact more than I usually see in
contemporary British mysteries, which serves more to remind me that Malliet is
an American than convince me that she’s British. There are wry observations
about human nature and characters are occasionally caught in perplexing
situations, but the books never go over the top.These aren’t exactly cozies, but neither are
they gritty procedurals.Characters are
more important than forensics, and one of the strengths of the series is her
vicar sleuth.Max is well aware of the
evils and moral ambiguity in the world, but he has a quiet but strong faith
that good will prevail in the end.

Haunted
Season impressed me mostly for its sense of
spirituality.Max is an Anglican, but
his beliefs are not chained to one particular doctrine.He finds his wife’s neo-pagan beliefs to be
as valid as his own Christian ones.There are some hints of the miraculous in the books, including an image
that keeps appearing on the wall of the Church that defies all attempts to
remove it.

Yet there was something a bit disjointed about the
book.The ending was a bit jarring, even
as a long-standing plot line was resolved, and there are hints that changes are
afoot for the next book.Even with that
caveat, I don’t believe that this is a series one needs to read in order.

For more reviews at the Bookblog of the Bristol
Public Library please go to their website.

Kevin's Corner

Sandi's Cancer Fight Is Over

Thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and support for the past six years plus as Sandi did everything she could to be here with all of us. She is now free and not hurting anymore. I am still trying to pay off her past treatments at Medical City Dallas Hospital as well as at Texas Oncology. While the hospital can't handle direct donations, if you can help and would prefer to donate directly, please contact Debra, the financial counselor at TEXAS ONCOLOGY in SUITE 220 of Building D at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas, Texas. We thank you for your prayers, thoughts, and support for the past six years plus as Sandi did everything she could to be here with all of us.